Ryan Gosling Set to Direct Underwater Sci-Fi Flick HowtoCatchaMonster

Christina Hendricks stars in a new sci-fi fantasy written and directed by her Drive castmate Ryan Gosling.Images courtesy FilmDistrict

They only spent a few on-screen minutes together during last year’s bloody heist film Drive, but geek heartthrob Ryan Gosling evidently got a good vibe going with Christina Hendricks: He’s picked the Mad Men bombshell to star in his directorial debut, a sci-fi fantasy called How to Catch a Monster.

Ryan Gosling, shown here in Drive, make his directorial debut with How to Catch a Monster.

Gosling also wrote the script and will appear in the movie. Described in a statement as a “modern-day fairytale” blending fantasy noir and suspense, Monster promises off-kilter twists beginning with the fact that it takes place in an underwater city.

Hendricks play single mother Billy, who gets sucked into a surreal underworld while her teenage son Bones goes wandering.

Financed by Bold Films, How to Catch a Monster is set to begin shooting in the spring. “Ryan has composed a beautifully haunting script and has a very clear vision of how he will bring it to life,” said producer Marc Platt in a statement. “His ability to draw audiences into his world as an actor will serve him well as a filmmaker.”

Many industry pundits believe Gosling got rooked out of an Oscar nomination last year for his performance as a cryptic stunt-car driver in director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. Gosling, who re-teams with Refn in 2013 release Only God Forgives, might reflect in his own film the influence of the Danish auteur. Last year, Refn told Wired, “I constructed Drive like a Grimm’s fairy tale. Nobody ever really talks unless they really have something to say.”

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